Vanessa

When I felt like enough time had passed for the humiliation of what had happened with Matt to subside a bit, I meandered back over to the fire. A redhead that I didn't recognize was sitting about two inches away from him on the log and leaning in close as she spoke in a hushed tone.

She glared at me as I sat down beside him and he nodded his head in response to something she had just said. "Yea," he replied weakly before turning to look at me. "Help," he mouthed and I tried not to smile, suddenly feeling giddy that he had no interest in talking to her.

I tucked my hair behind my ear before clearing my throat. "Um, Matt, Addison's been looking for you. Something about you having her breath mints."

"Of course." He glanced over at the redhead. "Excuse me. I need to go find my friend," he said, patting his pockets. "I'm the designated holder of all things essential. I'm afraid skirts just don't allow room for functionality." He rolled his eyes. "Women's fashion. Am I right?"

He hopped off the log, disappearing into the crowd and I didn't see him again for another couple of hours. By then, I could feel my eyelids starting to grow heavy and the thought of my bed became quite enticing.

***

Matt

Deciding that I had enough human interaction after that one conversation with Aimee, I headed straight towards the direction of my car, jogging down the hill so I could take a little snooze. I quickly dozed off and didn't wake until the clock on my dashboard glowed 2:07 am. Crap. The girls were probably waiting for me as they huddled by the dying fire, shivering and thinking that I had deserted them. I shuddered, imaging the glare and mouthful I was no doubt about to receive from Addison. I could hear her lecture now.

She would have her hands on her hips as her sights lasered in on me. "Where were you? We could've frozen to death out here, you know. It's 50 degrees, Matt. 50!" She would point at her lips, purposely chattering them for dramatic effect.

However, that was not the sight that greeted me. Vanessa was by the fire but Addison was nowhere to be seen. V looked up at me sleepily, giving me a warm smile when she saw me. "Hey," she greeted, yawning. She was running her hands over the goose bumps on her arms, making me feel all the more guilty for falling asleep.

"You cold?" I moved to take off my jacket and placed it around her shoulders. She flushed slightly but pulled it closed around her. Did she just sniff it? I shrugged, giving her a sheepish grin. "Sorry, it's been awhile since I last cleaned it. I didn't think it smelled but I guess I'm just used to it." Her brown eyes grew wide and she covered her face, presumably so I couldn't see her cheeks turn even redder.

I looked away so she could compose herself without being watched. We sat there in comfortable silence as we gazed at the fire with only the sounds of its soft crackle and pop to be heard. After some time had passed, I glanced over to check on her and noticed that her eyelids were fluttering closed. Her head started to bob as she drifted off and it slowly began leaning closer to me until it came to a rest on my shoulder. I smirked at her, fairly certain that she wasn't even aware she was doing it. It was cute.

She looked so peaceful in the light of the fire. I reached out to brush a strand of hair away that had fallen into her eyes and as my fingers grazed over her creamy complexion, I noted how soft and smooth her skin was. I didn't totally hate the idea of staying like this on me for a while.

However, after a few more minutes of her snoozing had gone by, she opened her eyes, wiping the drool from her mouth. She lifted her head and her gaze darted around as she tried to make sense of where she was. When her sights fell on mine, I gave a small wave. Instantly, a scarlet flush crept onto her cheeks and she bolted up. "I...I....I'm so sorry," she stammered. "I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep."

I laughed, thinking nothing of it. She really didn't need to be so skittish about everything. So she had laid her head on my shoulder. It was no big deal. It wasn't like she had reached out and started groping me in her sleep or anything weird like that. There was no need for her to be embarrassed. I nudged her with my elbow. "Come on, sleepyhead. Let's go find Addie and get you home."

***